1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to water bed frames, and is more particularly concerned with a cushioned frame for a full flotation water bed.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
There has long been a desire to provide a full flotation water bed (which has about 91/4 inches, or about 231/2 cm, of water) with soft rails that are comfortable for sitting on the edge of the bed. The full flotation and soft rails tend to be mutually exclusive because the pressure of the water exerts such a great force on the rails that soft rails quickly bow outward and fail to contain the water mattress properly.
One effort at providing soft rails comprises the use of rails that are all foam, the inside surface of the rails being sloped, both to distribute the outward force and to have wide foam at the bottom for greater strength. Such rails are only partially successful, and require a special mattress. Water bed dealers prefer to buy various parts of beds from various manufacturers; and, if a particular frame requires one specific mattress, a dealer will typically not stock that frame. Therefore, any successful frame must accept a conventional mattress of the type that may be available from several different manufacturers.
Prior art frames, in an effort to prevent bowing of the side rails, have utilized flanges for strengthening the rails. Though such flanges will in fact strengthen a rail, it has been conventionally believed that the full height of the conventional side rail was still required. As a result, the only prior art solution to the hard, uncomfortable side rails has been the addition of a rail cap, which simply adds a pad to the conventional, usually wooden, side rails.